The present invention concerns a new and improved apparatus for separating opened fibre flocks from a transporting air stream which is of the type comprising one feed chute or a plurality of consecutive feed chutes, connected to a transporting duct, with at least one air-permeable separating wall for guiding transporting air into an exhaust duct located behind the separating wall, and a driven take-off device forming a fibre layer arranged at the lower chute end.
In German Patent No. 1,286,436 and the corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 3,400,518 there is disclosed a fibre depositing chute which is connected to a fibre transporting duct. The transporting air is separated from the fibre material by means of slots provided in one of the chute walls and is guided into an area or room where there prevails a lower pressure. At the lower chute end two take-off rolls compress the flock column formed in the chute and take it off in the form of a fibre layer, or transfer the fibre layer to a subsequent processing stage, as the case may be.
In the prior art device one of the take-off rolls is designed as a perforated drum for improving the taking-in of the flock column into the clamping nip of the pair of rolls or for rendering this process disturbance-free, respectively.
It now has been found that, the taking-in of the flock column into the nip of the pair of take-off rolls does not function satisfactorily and that in this known device, if operated at sub-atmospheric pressure, sealing problems arise between the take-off rolls and the chute. A further disadvantage resides in the fact that, particularly if a perforated drum is used as a take-off roll, the sealing problems which arise only can be overcome with excessive efforts, rendering the device disproportionately expensive.